Another week flies by!

I don't really know where this week has gone, it has passed quickly, partly I suppose because Monday was a Bank Holiday. David and I are making the most of not being tied to the classroom and of having a car when it is not needed for the shopping for Mitsidi and so have been getting about a bit. The car is actually in a bit of a state so we took it upon ourselves to make a list of what is wrong with it and take it in to Torrent for a service. The thing I have found the most difficult is that the wipers don't work. It rains so hard that one is forced to stop and wait for the rain to ease off or risk hitting something or ending up in the ditch! This was one of the things that was fixed when David picked the car up, but by the time he got it home they had stopped again.

Vince came with me to Chilomoni Police Station to report the loss of my bag and it was quite an experience. It reminded me a bit of Heartbeat only not quite so warm and cosy! The Police Station is a basic brick building with concrete floors and chipped paintwork. The officer on reception sits behind a wooden counter with a flap that lifts up to let you through if he chooses to admit you. It took us a few minutes to explain that we wanted him to make a report of the loss so that if I am caught driving without a licence I can present the report as evidence that I did have one and am in the process of applying for another. I never did expect that they would do anything about trying to recover what I had lost. After a time of fruitless explanation Vince asked if Henry was in, and then we got some action! Henry is the Chief of Police in Chilomoni. Those of you who also read David's blog will have come across him before as he drinks in the Liquor Garden and was the cause of David being brought home in a police van at dead of night a little while ago, but that is another story! Beehive built a victim support unit for Chilomoni Police last year and apparently it is very well used and makes a significant difference to the conditions in which victims of violence and abuse have to talk about what has happened to them. There is a bedroom, where victims can stay safely if necessary and two small private interview rooms. Previously victims had to be interviewed in the same room as everyone else with no privacy at all. Vince and I went round the back to say 'Hello' to Henry, and while I was there I invited him to come and speak to my students about working cooperatively with the Police, particularly with respect to Child Protection issues. We had a little chat and caught up on how the Victim Support Centre is being used and then were shown to the Interview room where a smiling young policeman was waiting to fill in a form with me, and a woman detective was interviewing a lad who had been apprehended inside someone else's house, but was busy denying it! The room was very small. There was a table, a bench, shared by the lad and the policeman, and three chairs, occupied by Mabel, the detective, Vince and me. Any cat you tried to swing would have been well battered! I handed over K500 on request and the deed was done. I did well, when Claudie did the same thing it cost her K2000. The document clearly carries some clout because I have already produced it when they wanted my passport no. before they would give me my old phone no. back when I went to the Zain shop. I waved the police report and everything went smoothly, even though passport is not one of the listed documents. It might have been, but it was at the immigration office renewing my visa at the time!

On Wednesday morning we visited St Andrew's International School. It has probably the best Early Years provision in Malawi and I have arranged to go and spend a day with them in the near future to find out about their planning and record keeping and run my draft curriculum past the Head of Nursery to get another perspective on whether I have included the right things for Malawi. The school is fee paying and exclusive, but it was just the sort of place you'd want your children to go if you had the choice. The atmosphere was relaxed and happy. The Head Teacher knew every child and adult we encountered by name, everyone was cheerful and polite. There was a swimming pool and a farm with all sorts of animals including a baby camel. It was well resourced, bright, clean, spacious, well-cared for and generally delightful. The intake was perhaps 80% Malawian, maybe 15% Asian and a sprinkling of Azungus.

We have spent quite a lot of time this week planning for the Intermediate course and beginning to write the lecture input. I spent this morning producing a Powerpoint presentation on Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences, and this afternoon trying to summarise the work of people like Froebel, Montessori and Steiner in about three slides each. This is definitely not an easy task! David is working on Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner. On a lighter note David is preparing a story-telling workshop and I am gathering materials for the students to make their own books and story sacks. We have a real need to make our own books as very little is published in Chichewa and we feel it is important for the children to have stories in their own language as well as in English. So far I have found only one story in Chichewa, the story of Blessings Minibus, and his adventures transporting people around Blantyre.

Early in the week I dropped in on Dominic who is the most senior person in Social Services in Blantyre. I wanted to keep him in the loop about the progress of our courses because if we are to stand any chance of getting them accredited by the Malawian Government his office will have to come and inspect us. I emailed him some information a week or so ago, but when I dropped in he was wading through three weeks worth of emails and had not yet seen mine. I told him we are off to Lilongwe next week to see the Ministry of Gender, Children and Community Affairs to find out the best way to get accreditation and he seemed a bit miffed. He feels that the right thing to do is to go through him, so I said I would come and see him on Friday bringing hard copies of the documents I had emailed and we parted on smiley terms, but when I went today he was at a meeting in Lunzu. I left the hard copies with a lady in his office. We are still going to Lilongwe, but at least now if the bigwigs from Lilongwe contact him he will have the information to hand. Poor Dominic, I don't envy him his job at all. He has to cover all social services issues in Greater Blantyre with a team of 12 Social Workers, talk about an impossible task! I wonder if he will come and inspect us himself, or send someone else to do it. I know he has got Gift, the Child Protection Officer who did the Introductory Course, to write a report about it, but unfortunately Gift did not pass the exam so I am not confident that his report will be as positive as it could be!

Jack's visit is getting nearer and nearer! I am more excited about it than I have been about anything for a long time! He arrives at Lilongwe on Tuesday at lunchtime. I shall actually be leaving Blantyre on Sunday afternoon and making visits to a nursery setting run by nuns in Ntcheu, UNICEF and the Ministry in Lilongwe on my way to the airport. Then we shall have five days holiday in Nkhotakota and Liwonde before returning to Mitsidi next Saturday evening.